Product Details

Product Description

From Amazon.ca

Consolidate your screens with this clever accessory that transforms your flat-panel LCD or standard CRT monitor into a fully functional higher-definition TV, with cable, video game console, VCR, and DVD connectivity. Forget about having a separate den and office; combine the two and do your computing and your entertainment viewing on the same screen.

The tuner is ready to use right out of the box. Cables and a remote control are included, and the plug-and-play connectivity makes installation a breeze. No additional software drivers are necessary. The 28-key remote control lets you control input sources and display options via the relatively intuitive onscreen menu, making the transition easy for lovers of TV. With resolution up to 1,024 x 768 dpi and 24-bit color, the display is stunning, enhancing television, movies, or video games.

The VB50HRTV provides full-screen viewing; it is not a pop-up viewer. This means that you can't watch television while working on your computer, so devoted multitaskers may find it frustrating. However, you can use the unit without turning your computer on (and without listening to the whir of your computer's fan) while watching movies or playing games.

From the Manufacturer

IE Magazine boasts that the ViewSonic VB50HRTV "is top-notch, and for hardcore gamers [it] will be something that is used every single day." The VB50HRTV turns your LCD or CRT display into a TV or multimedia center with multiple video entertainment connections. You get a full-screen TV viewing experience--no small pop-up viewer. With plug-and-play connectivity, it's easy to hook up favorite extras like a DVD player, VCR, or digital camera. The VB50HRTV comes with everything users need to get started, including cables and a remote control.

Enjoy high-resolution 1,024 x 768 TV at full screen in full 24-bit color. Simply connect the VB50HRTV module to the antenna or cable feed. Connect a DVD, VCR, video game console, or digital camera to the VB50HRTV and enjoy favorite movies or pictures in high resolution. The VB50HRTV provides S-Video, composite (RCA) video connectors, audio pass-through, and associated cables.

The module is a plug-and-play tabletop configuration requiring no software drivers or internal computer installation. A 28-key remote control is supplied for your convenience. Easily switch from TV to computer as well as all other input sources. In addition, you can control contrast, brightness, color, and hue from the remote control and onscreen menu.

With RGB computer pass-through, you can watch TV or enjoy your DVD movie without turning on your computer. The unit automatically tunes all available TV broadcast and cable TV channels. It is compatible with CRT, LCD, plasma, and projection displays and even has a built-in sleep timer that automatically shuts off the display at a set time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Amazon.com:
49 reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

Perfect for Apartment / Dorm RoomFeb. 7 2002

By
Stephen Yeargin
- Published on Amazon.com

Looking to send your teenager away for college, but don't feel like parting with the 27" television? This is a perfect solution if they already have a computer.For comparison purposes, the other alternative is to purchase a TV tuner card for the computer. However, this substantialy degrades the picture quality and performance of the machine. With the ViewSonic box, your monitor becomes your television, even with the computer turned off.Overall, this is an inexpensive solution that makes sense. Why haul two large pieces of electronic equipment, when this box combines the two? Now they can save their money, and buy a VGA flat panel monitor, or DVD player!

I decided to try the ViewSonic ViewBox after buying a ATI TV tuner card and being dissatistfied with the picture quality. I have also seen other peoples TV tuner cards and the poor quality pictures that they provide. TV tuner cards also have a very loud "static" noise that occurs as you switch between channels. The ViewSonic TV tuner switches between channels quietly, which is very nice.

The box is a very small and sleek unit. It is about nine inches long, 6 inches wide, and less than 2 inches thick. It takes about 3 minutes to hook up to your computer. It hooks directly inbetween your computer monitor and your computer tower. A VGA cable is included, so all you have to do is run your monitor cable to the back of the ViewSonic box to the RGB output, attach the VGA cable that is provided to the RGB input of the ViewSonic box, then to where you normally attach your monitor cable on your computer. Plug in the audio output from your computer, screw on your cable TV coaxial line, plug in the power supply for the ViewSonic tuner and you are ready to go. It couldn't be simpler.

You are also provided with an audio output jack if you want to use different speakers (other than your computer monitor's - if that is the case). There are the standard video and left and right channel RCA jacks to plug in a VCR, and one S-video input to run the signal from a DVD player, Playstation, or X-box to your computer monitor.

This is the perfect component to take that smaller computer monitor that is now collecting dust in the corner of a closet, that you just don't want to throw away and use it as a monitor for the kid's Playstation, X-box, or as a regular TV. The unit has nice sound and comes with a remote for changing channels on the TV tuner and for changing inputs.

I am very pleased with this purchase and think that it is the ideal solution for college students that already have a computer and do not have the space or the money to buy a TV but want to have a TV in their dorm room.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

Viewsonic Viewbox rocksFeb. 24 2002

By
Noel
- Published on Amazon.com

The ViewSonic ViewBox VB50HRTV TV Tuner Box is a very good product at a great price. In my system, a Daewoo 9000 DVD player is connected to the VGA input and a Panasonic S-VHS vcr is connected via S-video. Cable tv is also connected to it. The VGA output of the Viewsonic goes to a 17" computer monitor.The Viewsonic acts as a line doubler/scaler for vcr and cable signals and passes through the DaewooVGA progressive scan signal without being able to alter it. The picture quality from the Daewoo has a 3D look to it on my computer monitor. The remote controls resolution, refresh rate, and picture controls for the video and cable inputs only.One drawback is the use of a stereo mini-plug for the VGA input's audio. The S-video/composite input uses a much better set of RCA input jacks for audio. The audio output is a stereo mini-jack which can connected to headphones or to a receiver.Highly recommended - especially in a bedroom, den, or small office video system.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

The best TV-Tuner available.Feb. 23 2003

By
J. Kowell
- Published on Amazon.com

This is a great product to have if you want a TV, but don't have space for one. I live in a college apartment, so my TV is downstairs and sometimes it is in use when I want to use it. With this I can watch TV in my room.I have not had any problems with this. Installation is easy, you just plug every connector into the labeled slot. Unfortunatly There are alot of wires: speaker wires to and from the box, computer video to and from the box, power, and cable/Antena line.There are also input jacks for S-Video and RCA (i.e. Composite- the three color cables used by video games and DVD players).The reception is great. I didn't notice any difference between the ViewSonic and my TV. I use a LCD screen, so I do not know if CRT monitors are any different. I did notice a slight degrading in the video quality when using the RCA jacks for my video game console. But it is only slight and not worth bothering about. The tuner can shown in pixel resolution of up to 1024 X 768, which is the standard for monitors nowadays. Most other types of tuners cannot handle high resolutions, the USB tuner I used to have would slow the system down and get chopping signals, even at low resolutions of 320 X 200.One plus is that the tuner can be used even if the computer is not on, or even hooked up to it. I really like this feature because I do not always have my computer on, and it would be a nusicance to have to turn it on ever time I wanted to watch TV.Because the TV tuner does not connect to the computer directly, such as ones where you have to install it into a PCI slot or connect via USB, there is no software to install and you do not have to open the computer to set it up.The only down side to the ViewSonic is that it cannot show both TV input and computer input at the same time, when the ViewSonic is on, it shows the TV, other wise the Computer signal just passes through with the ViewSonic on standby. This does not bother me, since the majority of computer programs I use, like MS Word and Explorer, take up the entire screen, so I wouldn't be able to see the TV window anyway. For people with slower computers, it is actually better this way, because TV tuners that plug into a PCI slot or USB port can slow the system down and disrupt the TV stream.I would highly recomend this product over any other type of TV-tuners for computers.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

Great Buy, Came ThroughMarch 21 2002

By
S. Furlong
- Published on Amazon.com

I ordered the Viewsonic Viewbox for use in a dorm/apartment setting, and I couldn't be happier with it. Tv and videogames look great on my 17'' computer monitor, and the remote is really handy for navigating in and among all inputs. For reference have tried the playstation 2, w/games and dvds, n64, and super nintendo, all with s-video, and genesis games with composite video.An added bonus that I was hoping for and got was the ability to use this tuner without being connected to an actual computer. The specs are unclear as they indicate "connect to you computer with and RGB passthrough cable." So now, yes, the tuner can work alone simply connected only to a computer monitor. This will be useful to me once I get a new monitor and/or would like to use my present monitor in the living room for movies and tv w/o having to lug my tower around as well.Hope I could help.